ional
trouble attached to the production of this kind of story to justify
the editors in rejecting everything but the very best in the way of
plots.

_16. Features_

The most surprising thing, when one looks back and considers the
single-reel stories of a few years ago, is that a complete, logically
told story could ever have been produced in one thousand feet of film,
part of which was consumed by sub-titles and inserts. Of course, the
sub-titles and inserts _helped_ to tell the story in those days, just
as they do now, but even so, the comparatively small amount of footage
allowed to each picture seems even less than it actually was in the
light of the five- to eight-thousand feet and more to which we expect
feature pictures to run today.

The fact remains, however, that for several years one-reel pictures
were the rule; and a still more important fact, considered from the
standpoint of the writer, is that many--a great many--of the stories
that were then confined to one thousand feet of film were far better
_stories_, if not quite so pleasing as _pictures_, than many that are
now being put out in lengths of five-thousand feet or more and labeled
as features.

The reason is clear; there simply could not be a clearer or more
undeniable reason: When a story had to be told in one thousand
feet--perhaps a few feet less than that, but never a foot more--it had
to be _all story_, all meat. "Padding" was a thing quite unknown in
1909. The wonder was that so much story could be crowded into so few
feet of film. Good as was the Famous Players five-reel production of
Dumas' "Monte Cristo"--judged by the standards of the year in which it
was released--a great many people who saw it were struck by the fact
that this feature production had very little more actual story in it
than had the carefully condensed one-reel version of the same
novel-play that was put out by the Selig Company in 1908. What it did
have was more detail, and a great deal more opportunity for pictorial
effects. The one-reel Selig release gave every essential detail of
the romance, with the necessary explanatory inserts in the way of
leaders, letters, etc. The Famous Players feature production gave
the essential details plus innumerable details that were by no
means essential--although very effective as helps to a better
understanding of the locale, the period in history, and the author's
characterization.

The Famous Players "Monte Cristo," however,